Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Mining / tailings dam · Brazil · 2019–2027

Vale Brumadinho dam collapse

Nature's voice · report
About 12 million cubic metres of mine waste were released onto my land and into my rivers.
Dam held about 11.7 million m³ (Vale 20-F 2018).
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record.
Recorded
  • More than 350 km of my rivers were polluted.
    Paraopeba (AP); an academic study gives 155 km.
People
  • 272 people died.
    TJMG; AP: more than 270 killed, 11 missing in Feb 2021.
What the record lacks: 7 none on record · 1 insufficient · 3 unclear See the gaps

A Vale tailings dam in Minas Gerais collapsed in January 2019 and 272 people died. Vale agreed a R$37.7 billion settlement in 2021; the homicide case against 16 people has no verdict.

≈ 114 days estimateBrazil settlement vs Vale's 2021 net income
Estimate: about US$7bn against about US$61.5m of net income per day in 2021.
What?
On 25 January 2019 Dam I at Vale's Córrego do Feijão mine in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, collapsed, releasing about 12 million m³ of tailings; 272 people died. Vale signed a R$37.7bn reparation agreement in 2021, and the homicide case against 16 people has no verdict. TJMG
Where?
Dam I of the Córrego do Feijão mine, Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil; tailings into the Paraopeba River.
When?
Collapse on 25 January 2019; 16 people charged in January 2020; reparation agreement on 4 February 2021; SEC complaint in April 2022 and settlement on 28 March 2023. Federal criminal hearings run from February 2026 to May 2027.
Who?
Gained
  • Vale — Ore from the Paraopeba complex, which includes the mine, worth about US$5.3bn at benchmark prices in 2016–2018 (estimate; gross value, not Vale's revenue) Vale / SEC EDGAR
  • Vale — About US$74m from insurers, 2021–2025 (sum of yearly figures: 19, 6, 30, 11 and 8) Vale / SEC EDGAR
  • Vale executives — Claimed their defence costs under a Zurich D&O policy with a reported limit of about US$150m; amounts not found InfoMoney
Lost
  • Vale — R$37.7bn (about US$7bn) under the 2021 Integral Reparation Agreement, including an estimated R$5bn for environmental recovery, uncapped TJMG
  • Vale — US$55.9m to the US SEC in 2023 (US$25m penalty plus US$30.9m disgorgement and interest), without admitting or denying the allegations US SEC (press release 2023-63)
  • Vale — Expense line 'Brumadinho event and de-characterization of dams': US$7.4bn (2019), US$5.3bn (2020), US$2.6bn (2021) Vale / SEC EDGAR
  • Municipality of Brumadinho — Lost 60% of its tax revenue after the disaster, according to Diário do Comércio Diário do Comércio
Harmed
  • 272 people killed — TJMG count; AP reported 11 people still missing in February 2021 TJMG
  • Paraopeba River — Polluted for more than 350 km according to AP; an academic study gives 155 km AP (via Spectrum News)
  • Children in Brumadinho — 50.6% of 217 children tested had urinary metals above reference values (Fiocruz, 2022); arsenic 41.9%, lead 13% Brasil de Fato
Why?
The US SEC alleged that from 2016 Vale manipulated dam safety audits and obtained fraudulent stability certificates, and that for years the dam did not meet internationally recognised safety standards; Vale settled without admitting or denying. Minas Gerais prosecutors charged 11 Vale and five TÜV SÜD staff with qualified homicide, and a state legislative inquiry said Vale knew of the dam's low safety factor (as reported by A Gazeta). US SEC
How?
The dam, built by Ferteco in 1976 and acquired by Vale in 2001, held about 11.7 million m³ and had stopped receiving tailings in 2016, while Vale's sustainability reports told investors all its dams were certified stable. Vale pays the settlement as its own obligation; insurers paid about US$74m over 2021–2025. Vale / SEC EDGAR
In proportion The settlement of about US$7bn equalled about 114 days of Vale's 2021 net income of US$22.4bn (estimate). Vale / SEC EDGAR
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

On 25 January 2019 Dam I at Vale's Córrego do Feijão mine in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, collapsed. The state court of Minas Gerais (TJMG) counts 272 deaths; AP reported 11 people still missing in February 2021.

The dam was built in 1976 by Ferteco, which Vale acquired in 2001. It received tailings until 2016 and held about 11.7 million m³; about 12 million m³ was released. The Paraopeba River was polluted for more than 350 km according to AP; an academic study gives 155 km.

On 4 February 2021 Vale signed a R$37.7bn (about US$7bn) Integral Reparation Agreement with the state and public institutions. It includes an estimated R$5bn for environmental recovery, uncapped. Vale's net income was US$22.4bn in 2021.

In January 2020 Minas Gerais prosecutors charged 16 people, including former CEO Fabio Schvartsman, ten other Vale staff and five staff of TÜV SÜD, with qualified homicide 270 times; Vale and TÜV SÜD were charged with environmental crimes. The case moved to federal court in 2023 and hearings are scheduled to May 2027. There is no conviction.

In April 2022 the US Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that Vale had manipulated dam safety audits and obtained fraudulent stability certificates. Vale settled in 2023 for $55.9m without admitting or denying the allegations. From 2021 to 2025 Vale collected about US$74m from insurers.

  1. 1976Dam I built by Ferteco
  2. 2001Vale acquires Ferteco
  3. 2016Dam stops receiving tailings
  4. 2019Dam collapses (25 Jan); Vale records no insurance indemnification
  5. 2020Prosecutors charge 16 people (Jan); court accepts indictment (14 Feb)
  6. 2021R$37.7bn reparation agreement (4 Feb); operational-risk insurance claim concluded, US$19m received
  7. 2022SEC complaint (Apr); Supreme Court panel confirms federal jurisdiction (Dec)
  8. 2023Federal prosecutors re-file indictment (23 Jan); SEC settlement of $55.9m (28 Mar)
  9. 2026Federal appeals court hearings begin (Feb); STJ reinstates former CEO as defendant (7 Apr); STJ refuses to halt the case (16 Jun)
  10. 2027Hearings scheduled to May

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“for years, the dam did not meet internationally-recognized safety standards even as Vale's public sustainability reports assured investors that all of its dams were certified as stable.”

“beginning in 2016, Vale manipulated multiple dam safety audits; obtained numerous fraudulent stability certificates”

US Securities and Exchange Commission, complaint announcement · April 2022 · US SEC

“one of the largest settlements ever in the country”

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • "The largest agreement by value ever made in Latin America" (TJMG, translated)
  • "Brazil's Vale signs $7 billion settlement in mining disaster" (AP headline)
  • Vale's sustainability reports: all of its dams certified as stable (as described by the SEC)

Recorded

  • SEC: the dam did not meet internationally recognised safety standards for years
  • Settlement of about US$7bn ≈ 114 days of Vale's 2021 net income (estimate)
  • Insurance collected 2021–2025: about US$74m; the settlement mentions no insurance
  • Vale expense line "Brumadinho event and de-characterization of dams": US$7.4bn (2019), US$5.3bn (2020), US$2.6bn (2021)
  • Fiocruz (2022): 50.6% of 217 children tested in Brumadinho had urinary metals above reference values
  • 16 people charged in 2020; no conviction by October 2026

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
Integral Reparation Agreement (R$37.7bn, obligation) commitment≈ $7bn
Window: from 2021
AP's conversion. Critics say it includes amounts already spent; not an official finding.
Environmental-recovery share of the agreement—
Estimated R$5bn (BRL), uncapped; spending to date not found.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Vale net income, 2021$22.4bn
Window: 2021
Vale net income, 2019–2022$44.4bn
Window: 2019–2022
Insurance collected estimate≈ $74m
Window: 2021–2025
Sum of yearly figures in Vale's 20-Fs (19, 6, 30, 11, 8).
Ore value from the Paraopeba complex, 2016–2018 estimate≈ $5.3bn
Window: 2016–2018
80 Mt × $66.4/t benchmark; gross value, not Vale's revenue.
Currency: USD · Window: Mixed — see each line. Figures cover different periods and are not compared as a ratio. * Estimate built from cited figures.

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2020–Ongoing
    Brumadinho homicide prosecution (16 individuals; Vale and TÜV SÜD)
    Brumadinho court (2020); federal court, TRF-6 2nd Panel, Belo Horizonte (from 2023) · Criminal · Minas Gerais state prosecutors (MPMG); federal prosecutors (MPF) from 2023 → Former CEO Fabio Schvartsman, 10 other Vale staff, 5 TÜV SÜD staff; Vale and TÜV SÜD (environmental crimes)

    Charged with double-qualified homicide 270 times and environmental crimes; the case was ruled federal (confirmed Dec 2022), re-filed on 23 January 2023, split into three proceedings, with hearings from February 2026 to May 2027 and no conviction. MPMG

  2. 2026Overturned on appeal
    Reinstatement of former CEO Schvartsman as defendant
    Superior Court of Justice (STJ), 6th Panel · Appeal · Federal prosecutors → Fabio Schvartsman

    On 7 April 2026 the STJ (3–2) reversed a TRF-6 habeas corpus ruling that had halted the case against him for lack of evidence of authorship. Poder360

  3. 2026Dismissed
    Requests to halt the Brumadinho criminal case
    Superior Court of Justice (STJ), 6th Panel · Appeal · Defendants → Federal prosecutors

    On 16 June 2026 the STJ unanimously denied two requests to halt the case; in March 2026 TRF-6 had denied habeas corpus petitions from four engineers. Agência Pública

  4. 2022–2023Settled$55.9m settlement
    SEC v. Vale S.A. (EDNY 22-cv-02405)
    US District Court, Eastern District of New York · Regulatory · US Securities and Exchange Commission → Vale S.A.

    Antifraud charges over dam-safety disclosures settled on 28 March 2023 for a $25m civil penalty plus $30.9m disgorgement and interest, without admitting or denying the allegations. US SEC (press release 2023-63)

  5. 2021SettledBRL 37.69bn settlement
    Integral Reparation Agreement
    Court of Justice of Minas Gerais (TJMG), court-approved agreement · Civil · State of Minas Gerais and public institutions → Vale S.A.

    Signed on 4 February 2021 for R$37,689,767,329 (about US$7bn), including an estimated uncapped R$5bn for environmental recovery; Vale booked an extra 2020 expense of about R$19.8bn. TJMG

  6. Ongoing
    US shareholder class action over Brumadinho
    US federal court · Class action · Vale shareholders → Vale S.A.

    Unresolved as of Vale's FY2025 annual report. Vale / SEC EDGAR

Insurers

  1. 2021Paid$19m received
    Operational-risk (property) insurers; press names Chubb (lead), Mapfre and Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, reinsured by IRB Brasil Re → Vale

    Vale recognised no indemnification in 2019 or 2020; in 2021 it reported that the Brumadinho claim under the Operational Risk policy was concluded and US$19m received. Vale / SEC EDGAR

  2. 2025Partly paid$74m collected 2021–2025 (sum of yearly figures)
    Vale's insurers (lines not itemised) → Vale

    Yearly receipts were US$19m (2021), 6m (2022), 30m (2023), 11m (2024) and 8m (2025), against a R$37.7bn settlement that mentions no insurance; no court or arbitration dispute with insurers is disclosed. Vale / SEC EDGAR

  3. 2021No policy found$500m reported limit
    Allianz-led civil-liability programme (US$400m plus US$100m excess; broker Willis) → Vale

    Press reported liability losses of up to US$4bn, most borne by Vale; civil-liability claims were still in negotiation in Vale's FY2021 filing. Legismap

  4. 2020No policy found$150m reported limit (about)
    Zurich (directors and officers) → Vale executives

    Executives claimed on the D&O policy for their defence costs; amounts and split among individuals not found. InfoMoney

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Deaths
272
TJMG count
River polluted
155–350 km
Paraopeba; academic study vs AP
Convictions
0
Homicide case against 16 people; hearings to 2027

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Deaths reportedCase pending / contested

Money

  • None on record Environmental-recovery share of the agreement — Estimated R$5bn (BRL), uncapped; spending to date not found.

Insurers

  • Unclear Allianz-led civil-liability programme (US$400m plus US$100m excess; broker Willis): no decision on record.
  • Unclear Zurich (directors and officers): no decision on record.

Record

  • None on record Outcome of Vale's civil-liability and D&O insurance claims, reported "still under negotiation".
  • Unclear Whether insurance funded the $55.9m SEC settlement; whether the court approved it.
  • None on record IBAMA fines of R$250m (five of R$50m) and a 2020 agreement directing R$150m to national parks: seen in search listings only.
  • None on record Date of the ruling that removed former CEO Schvartsman as a defendant: March 2024 in most sources, 2025 in one.
  • Insufficient A civil suit in Munich by about 1,400 claimants for about €600m against TÜV SÜD, a Munich prosecutors' investigation and a Brazilian ban on TÜV SÜD certifying dams: reported, not verified.
  • None on record Ore volumes for the dam's whole operating period (2001–2016).
  • None on record Tax treatment of the settlement and the SEC payment.
  • None on record The US shareholder class action was unresolved as of Vale's FY2025 20-F.

Did the harm stop?

The collapse was a single event on 25 January 2019; the dam had stopped receiving tailings in 2016.

Who paid?

The families of the 272 dead and communities along the Paraopeba. Vale paid the settlement from its own accounts; insurers paid about US$74m.

Sources

Voices on record: ✓ Company or project✓ Government and regulators✓ Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

Company or project

  2. Vale Form 20-F 2021
    Vale / SEC EDGAR · 2022
  3. Vale Form 20-F 2022
    Vale / SEC EDGAR · 2023
  4. Vale Form 20-F 2018
    Vale / SEC EDGAR · 2019
  5. Vale Form 20-F 2023
    Vale / SEC EDGAR · 2024
  6. Vale Form 20-F 2025
    Vale / SEC EDGAR · 2026

Government and regulators

  1. Vale to pay $55.9 million to settle charges
    US SEC (press release 2023-63) · 2023-03-28

Courts

Press and investigations

  6. Vale insurance programme
    Revista Apólice · 2019
  7. Vale D&O insurance
    InfoMoney · 2020-01-20

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Science and environment

Tailings and tailings dam
Tailings are the waste left after ore is processed; a tailings dam is the embankment that stores them as wet sludge.

Law and courts

Arbitration
A private dispute process in which an appointed arbitrator, instead of a court, decides the case.
Class action
A single lawsuit brought on behalf of a large group of people with similar claims.
Disgorgement
An order to give up profits gained from wrongdoing, used by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Homicide charge
A criminal charge of unlawfully causing death. In Brazil, prosecutors may charge it where they argue a defendant accepted the risk of deaths.

Institutions

DFC
The US International Development Finance Corporation, a government agency that lends to and insures private projects abroad.
SEC
The US Securities and Exchange Commission, which regulates securities markets and what companies tell investors.

Insurance

Reinsurance
Insurance bought by insurers to pass part of their own risk to other companies.
Underwriter
An insurer, or a person at an insurer, who assesses a risk and decides whether and on what terms to insure it.

Places and local terms

Renova Foundation
The foundation set up after the 2015 Mariana dam collapse to carry out repairs and compensation on behalf of Samarco and its owners.
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